President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced an agreement to keep TikTok operating in the United States.
At a White House briefing, he said: “We have a deal on TikTok … We have a group of very big companies that want to buy it.”
TikTok’s future At stake
TikTok, with 170 million American users, sits at the heart of a political clash between Washington and Beijing.
U.S. lawmakers argue ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent, gives Beijing access to American data and influence.
In 2024, Congress passed a law forcing ByteDance to divest its U.S. operations.
Deal Not Yet Sealed
Under the plan, TikTok will spin its American assets into a U.S.-based company.
An American-led board will take control, while ByteDance will keep a 19.9% stake.
U.S. investors, including existing backers, will hold the rest.
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Even so, the White House extended the divestiture deadline until December 16, giving ByteDance 90 more days to close the deal.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said negotiators had settled commercial terms months ago and added that Oracle will continue hosting TikTok’s U.S. data to satisfy security concerns.
Meanwhile, TikTok has become a political tool.
Trump credits the app with fuelling his re-election campaign and boasts 15 million followers.
The White House also launched an official account last month.
For now, users can keep scrolling.
Yet the final outcome remains uncertain.
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping plan to confirm the framework in a call later this week.
